H…E…L…P

St. Vincent @ Webster Hall, 5/20/2009

The Strangers / Laughing With A Mouth Of Blood / Now, Now / Actor Out Of Work / The Party / Oh My God / The Bed / Save Me From What I Want / Black Rainbow / Marrow / Just The Same But Brand New // Marry Me / Your Lips Are Red

If you have been to enough concerts, you become familiar with the dynamic of the audience and the singer during small talk moments: They say something, the audience claps or laughs accordingly, and the space between the songs is filled up, nothing more to think about. Annie Clark is a friendly, funny person on stage, but last night, it seemed as though the audience collectively didn’t know what to do when she addressed us. Awkward pauses, bad jokes from weird dudes in the back, lots of nervous laughter — at some points, it felt like the entire room was on a bad first date with someone way out of our league.

Clark and her band of top notch multi-instrumentalists were excellent, but they did not entirely find their groove until about halfway through the show. They were tight and well-rehearsed, but some songs early on came across as a bit tentative, as though they had not yet settled into the best way to perform the arrangement in concert. This was apparent on “The Strangers” and “Laughing With A Mouth Of Blood,” in which Clark sang both her lead and backing vocals, which overlap slightly on record. It wasn’t unsuccessful, but it was less than ideal — she may be wise to eventually have another woman on hand to handle the secondary parts. Her male vocalists were superb, though — the extended outro of “The Party” was totally gorgeous, and they added the necessary weight to the chorus of “Save Me From What I Want.”

“Save Me From What I Want” marked the part of the show when everything totally clicked together. Not coincidentally, these were the more groove-oriented songs — “Save Me” popped with a smoothly funky bass line, and additional melody and texture from pizzicato violin and saxophone; “Black Rainbow” was transformed into something of a stomp without sacrificing its lovely, delicate tune, and “Marrow” had a burning intensity that made me want to start a petition begging Clark to write more songs like it.

St. Vincent “Marrow”

When Annie Clark sings phrases like “save me” and “help me,” she never sounds as though she is making herself vulnerable to appeal to other people, especially not in a sexual sort of way. It comes across more like self-directed exasperation, as though he’s freaking out about getting herself caught in one trap or another. “Marrow” is about as hysterical as the preternaturally composed Clark gets, but its groove is smooth and gliding even when the song is tense and violent. The arrangement reminds me a bit of Trent Reznor’s work circa The Fragile — that perfect marriage of immaculate production, super-tight musicianship, potent anxiety, and unapologetic funkiness.

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